The series marks a rare foray into advertising for Jia, who is known for his documentary-like movies portraying the struggles of China's working class amid the country's rapid economic growth.

Jia told The Associated Press that Olay hired him to make the two-minute advertisements to mark its 18th year in China. He said the ads will be broadcast on the Internet.

He said he finished shooting Lin's ad but was still brainstorming for the other two.

Jia declined to say how much he was getting paid for the commercials or how much they cost.

Jia won the Venice Film Festival's top Golden Lion prize last year for ``Still Life,'' about demolition workers dismantling a Chinese village to make way for the Three Gorges Dam.

Cheung is a veteran Hong Kong actress who won the best actress award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in ``Clean.'' Lin, a model by profession, will appear in John Woo's upcoming Chinese historical epic ``Red Cliff.''Zhou is one China's most celebrated actresses. Her credits include ``The Banquet,'' ``Perhaps Love'' and ``A West Lake Moment.''

Jia also said he is working on his new project, called ``24 City'' in Chinese, about the relocation of an aircraft factory and its workers in the southwestern Chinese city Chengdu.

Jia is making both a documentary and a fictional movie about the subject. He said the documentary is almost finished and he has just submitted the script for the feature film to Chinese censors for approval.Source: The Associated Press